Executive Director IUSSTF

Rajiv Kumar Tayalholds a Doctorate in Chemical Engineering and Diploma in Project Management. He is a Certified Assessor / Trainer for Laboratory Accreditation Systems, ISO – 9000 Quality Management Systems and ISO – 14000 Environment Management Systems. He has close to 35 years of professional experience in Science, Technology and Innovation space, while directly serving in Industry and Government and closely interfacing with a large number of academic institutions, research laboratories and industry in India. He is a Fellow of the Indian National Academy of Engineering, FNAE and The Institution of Engineers (India), FIE.

He had initially worked in industrial R&D dealing with various facets of technology development and project implementation / management, in real time. He has extensive hands on experience of working with various segments of the overall R&D landscape, which imparts him with a unique skillset in visualizing interconnects and overall integration of R&D value chain from concept to commercialization. In addition to providing technical support to running plant production activities, he had been involved in the development of several processes/technologies for new products which were actually put to real life implementation.

Till recently, he had been working as an Advisor in the Department of Science & Technology (DST), Government of India, dealing with overall Science &Technology policy framework and several direct interventions through a vast range of schemes and programs related to promotion of scientific research and capacity building. Over the years, he has presided over some of the best and most efficiently managed R&D programs in DST, receiving due acknowledgement and wide acclaim from the research community.

He developed several partnerships and collaborative R&D programs with other S&T agencies, socio-economic ministries and industries in India, including some of the leading US federal agencies like, National Science Foundation (NSF) and National Institute of Health (NIBIB/NIH). He created a unique model to seamlessly connect Indian federal S&T agencies with all the state governments and developed a platform for technology access to fulfill developmental agenda at the grass root level, through a dynamic-interactive Technology Portal as a single point showcase of technologies developed by all the Indian federal S&T agencies.

He presided over mission programs in important areas of Carbon Sequestration, Climate Change and Himalayan Glaciology. At the time of relinquishing his charge in DST, he was the Heading two Program Divisions, namely SPLICE and IS-STAC. In addition to his responsibilities in DST, he had concurrently made foundational contribution to the formation and operationalization of Science & Engineering Research Board (SERB), a statuary body created by an Act of Indian Parliament under DST, and spearheaded various R&D programs under its ambit.

He also has extensive experience of working with Laboratory Accreditation Systems, Quality Management Systems and Environment Management Systems as an Assessor, Trainer and Consultant. He made foundational contributions to establish the overall eco–system for Laboratory Accreditation System in India, in its formative years.

He is currently leading the bi-national Indo-US Science & Technology Forum (IUSSTF) as its Executive Director. IUSSTF performs a critical role in connecting S&T eco-systems of the US and India through a rich portfolio of networking programs, strategic missions in the areas of energy and biomedical devices, large international collaborative projects and innovation led commercialization of technology. In addition to providing overall leadership to IUSSTF, he personally drives Innovation and Entrepreneurial initiatives for start-ups to translate new ideas into tangible business opportunities.

His other interests include techno-economic feasibilities and cost-benefit analysis for business and societal decision making, financial investment and taxation, sports, health and physical fitness, behavioral psychology and philosophy (Advait Vedanta). He is an avid reader and a keen thinker on metaphysical aspects of life, and beyond.